Australian Scientists smash the Solar Cell Efficiency Record

Australian engineers have chalked up a world record for electricity conversion efficiency by solar cells of 34.5%. The previous record, set by US company Alta Devices, was 24%. The result was verified by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Mark Keevers and Martin Green, of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, used a 28 square centimetre module, embedded in a prism, to split incoming sunlight into four bands, and a hybrid four-junction receiver to maximise the amount of electricity generated from each beam.